Normality
by carrythecat
Summary: This story was written for the prompt "All of the characters find themselves living perfectly ordinary lives for some reason." Each of the Avengers reacts differently to finding him/herself in the life they might have had if they'd been normal.
1. Not Being Hawkeye

Clint didn't even notice. After a while, he idly wondered why he hadn't received any summonses from the Avengers lately, but his family life beckoned so sweetly and was so easy to get lost in that it wasn't long before he stopped wondering .


	2. Not Being the Black Widow

It was weird for Natasha. She'd _never_ had a normal life. She was raised in an assassin factory. For her to have all this now, an office job, a husband, _parents -_ everything had to have been rewritten. She kept expecting to one day get a reminder of what her mission was and how she'd ended up with this cover and no clues. Because she must have just hit her head and gotten amnesia, or maybe she was just the world's most unlikely choice for a sleeper agent (why choose someone who _knows_ themself to be a spy?). But in the meantime, it was surprisingly easy to settle comfortably into. And she liked the red skirt-suit she got to wear to work.


	3. Not Being the Hulk

For Bruce it was frightening. Fear built upon fear, to truly staggering heights,but after living like that long enough while NOTHING HAPPENED and nothing continued to happen, he just couldn't keep it up and gradually the fear receded. Eventually it faded to only periodic flashes of paranoia, and then one day he turned a corner. He accepted that probably nothing was ever going to happen. Joy bubbled up inside of him, and then, somehow, it never stopped bubbling up. He could live the rest of his life in joy and peace, with no more fear bothering him ever again. In philosophical moments, he wondered if he'd simply used it up.


	4. Not Being Iron Man

Tony hated it. All he had, torn away in an instant. No mansion, no money, no _machines._ He tried to build new ones, but it was like he couldn't remember how. He couldn't explain it to anyone else, either, because _yes,_ he did still demonstrably have the skills to physically build things and the engineering knowledge to repair a car from memory, but the _spark_ just wasn't there. He tried blaming it on not being able to afford the right parts, but Pepper just took that as more lashing out. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that one night when she'd been sleeping he'd found an online IQ test and given up on it halfway through. He could recognize how much trouble he was having trying to solve for answers he'd hardly have had to think about before. As shameful as he felt about the expected low score, it would be even worse if it turned out to be a high one instead. One more thing he couldn't point to as a reason for the impotence he felt.

He couldn't think his way to a solution to his and Pepper's problems either. After the divorce, his desperation turned to depression. He missed her, he missed the man he used to be, he missed the opportunities he'd had with the Avengers to do something of use for the good of the world, and he missed JARVIS so much it was like a physical pain.


	5. Not Being Captain America

Steve thought it was a nightmare. To find himself back in his old body, barely able to _walk_ without wheezing, and with a war raging that he was helpless to do his part in - it shouldn't be possible. He didn't even have Bucky - he was Over There. It _mustn't_ be possible. Gradually, what was left of the idealism he'd had as a kid the first time around turned to cynicism. He'd gotten a job in a factory to do what he _could_ for the war effort, and kept it when the war was over, but he kept seeing other men being promoted over his head, the men who'd gone and fought and come back. Whether they remained more able-bodied than he was seemed to make no difference. He tried not to be bitter. He told himself that he _had_ fought, even if they didn't know it. But Bucky was dead, everyone he had ever really connected with was dead, or _he'd_ be dead before they were even born.


	6. Not Being the God of Thunder

Thor thought he was waking from a dream. He'd imagined himself a Prince of Asgard having wild adventures, but what use would Asgard have for _two_ princes? It made far more sense that he was nothing more than what he seemed - the son of a tavern-keeper, stabling horses, carrying heavy loads of firewood, and passing out the ale amidst roaring laughter. One of the kitchen maids seemed sweet on him and he made sure to smile at her whenever he passed. Soon, in the normal way of things, they would be wed, and he would inherit his father's tavern and start training his own children to inherit it from himself in turn, but he was in no hurry. He was happy as he was.


End file.
